Surrender
by lizbethu
Summary: This is my third Olicity fan fic. Starts up after episode 213. Felicity finds herself dealing with Oliver being with someone else, yet it is obvious they have feelings for each other. Will they ever find their way to each other? Try to keep the characters true to their show personas.
1. Chapter 1

**This picks up at the end of episode 213, immediately following Oliver and Sara being together below Verdant in the lair. This is where I hope the story line goes when the show comes back in the US in late February. Thanks for reading, and please review. Also, if you like this story, feel free to check out my story "You deserve better than her" which was another tangent from the 206/207 episode mark.**

Felicity arrived at Verdant early that morning, set to make some upgrades on her software. It was total escapism from the drama around Moira Queen and telling Oliver about Thea's paternity. She knew she had done the right thing in telling him, but Moira's words still haunted her...

_If you won't keep my secret for Oliver's sake, you should keep it for your own. I see the way you look at him. If you tell him this, you will rip his world apart, and a part of him will always blame you. Oh he'll hate me for sure, but he will hate you too. We all have to keep secrets, Miss Smoak._

As she got out of her car she noticed Oliver's motorcycle and another car she didn't recognize in the back lot. She wondered why he would be there so early in the morning, assuming there was something major going down. As she entered the lair she came down the staircase as quickly as possible.

"Oliver, is everything okay?" she called out, her eyes searching for him. She pulled up short at the bottom of the steps as she caught sight of Oliver and Sara, clearly trying to dress themselves quickly. Their disheveled state and the blanket on the sofa were a clear indication of what had happened the night before, and explained that Oliver had not arrived to the lair early, but rather had never left.

Dumbstruck by what she was seeing, Felicity apologized for interrupting, then turned to leave hastily.

"Felicity, wait!" Oliver called after her, finishing pulling on his pants. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase, keeping her back to him as Sara escaped into the bathroom, giving a questioning look toward the pair.

"Felicity..." Oliver said beseechingly, reaching to place his hand on her arm.

"Don't!" she said in a pained whisper, shrugging off his touch. Felicity turned to face him, taking a calming breath at the sight of Oliver shirtless. "I didn't mean to intrude. I thought something was wrong when I saw the motorcycle..." her voice trailed off.

Oliver broke eye contact seeing the unshed tears in Felicity's eyes. Looking down and rubbing the back of his neck, he finally said, "this wasn't planned."

Felicity didn't move. She just continued to stare at him, wondering how she had found herself in this position with him yet again. Knowing she was ready to burst out sobbing she let a soft chuckle escape her throat. Oliver finally looked up at her.

"It never is." With that she turned and walked slowly up the steps, knowing he wouldn't follow.

Oliver turned, his chest aching and heaving at the hurt he had seen in Felicity's eyes. Seeing the tabletop with arrow shafts and other supplies on it in front of him, he stepped forward, sweeping his arm across the surface, throwing all of the items across the floor. Anger caused his hands to ball up into fists as he leaned on the table, head down in self-disgust. Taking a deep breath, he looked up to find Sara standing across the room, arms crossed and a frown on her face.

"Everything okay?" she asked, knowing full well it was not.

"I just..." Oliver started, closign his eyes and shaking his head slowly, unable to find the right words to explain what he was feeling in that moment to her.

Sara came to stand on the opposite side of the table, prompting Oliver to look up at her. "I think we should treat this..." gesturing to the sofa, "as a one time thing until you can figure some other things out." She walked over to grab her jacket, letting her words sink in with Oliver. She probably should have been angry or jealous at his obvious feelings for Felicity, but after all they had been through on the island and since, she couldn't begrudge him finding happiness, love, or whatever it was with someone who was not tainted or damaged. She was still reeling over her own mixed feelings after the run in with Nyssa. The night before had been more of a release of emotion than anything with someone who she was familiar and felt safe with. She hadn't felt this safe in a long time.

She walked up to Oliver, placing her hand on his forearm. She waited for him to look up at her before dropping her hand. "Thank you, for helping me figure out how to stay."

Realizing he was wallowing in his own self-pity while Sara was dealing with her own emotions Oliver reached out to give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You're welcome," he said with a small smile.

Dropping Oliver's hand, Sara turned to head toward the staircase to leave. As she started up the first few steps she stopped to turn back to him. "You know I've seen a big change in you since the island, even since I was here last time."

Oliver cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing bad," Sara reassured him. "In fact, quite the opposite. You've picked the right people to surround yourself for this...mission. And whether you've realized it or not, I see that part of you that was broken on the island starting to heal. Frankly, I'm a little jealous," she finished with a small smile.

Oliver let her words sink in.

"Anyway," Sara finally said, "I better go. Time to face the family."

As she started to turn away, Oliver called after her. "Sara, you know you're always welcome here, to be a part of this. We can use all the help we can get."

"I know. Thanks, Ollie. I'll see you later."

With that Sara left, leaving Oliver to think about what she had said about how he had changed.

With the anger now tempered he started picking up the mess he had just made. He had just finished arranging the items just as they had been before when something sparkly caught his eye from under the staircase. Going over to it, he bent down, picking up a single solitaire diamond earring. Knowing who it belonged to he made a decision in his head. He threw on the rest of his clothes and shoes, then headed toward the exit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews. Still struggling about where I want to take this, but here is another chapter as I think through my game plan. Enjoy!**

Oliver, feeling refreshed after having gone home to shower and change, arrived at Felicity's apartment building. He looked one more time at the earring in his hand, closing his fist around it before entering the building. He took the staircase to the second floor. Oliver raised his hand to knock on the door only to have it opened by Felicity, who let out a startled cry at finding him standing directly in front of her.

"Oh my god, Oliver, you practically gave me a heart attack," she said, letting out a small laugh, letting her guard down with him momentarily.

Oliver knew the second her defenses came back up as her posture tensed and she dropped her gaze from his, most likely remembering this morning and the compromising position she had found him and Sara in at Verdant.

"I'm sorry," he said, the statement loaded with all sorts of meaning. Oliver frowned at the sight of her overnight bags sitting at her feet. "Are you going somewhere?"

Felicity could have sworn he almost sounded panicked at seeing her luggage, but she quickly brushed off the thought, knowing that his attentions were otherwise engaged as of recently.

"Yeah, I got a call from Barry's doctor a little while ago. There's been a slight change in his condition," she finished, looking at her watch and glancing down the hall behind Oliver.

Caught off guard by the news, Oliver asked the obvious question. "Did he wake up?"

"No, unfortunately he's still in the coma, but his brain activity has increased, so they think he might be getting ready to wake up."

"That's great," Oliver lied, realizing he was jealous of a guy who has been stuck in a coma for weeks; the same guy who had actually saved his life just before the accident. "I mean the part about him getting ready to wake up," Oliver amended, realizing how his response had sounded, even if it was closer to his true feelings. "So are you waiting for a cab, or do you want me to arrange for the company jet to take you?" He knew he was rambling, stalling to try to keep her there in front of him before her departure, but he couldn't help himself.

"Actually, Diggle is supposed to be here any minute. He has an old military buddy who is working private security in Central City that he wanted to visit so offered to take me with him when I mentioned I would be gone for a while."

"Oh. Do you know when you'll be back?" Oliver asked, feeling a sense of unease at the thought of her being gone again. He knew he had snapped at her the last time she had been in Central City, mostly because he had felt a significant void during her absence, but he resolved to be supportive of her visit this time around. He figured it was the least he could do after the awkward start to their day.

"I don't know. But I cleared it with HR already. It's officially on the books as a personal leave."

"You didn't have to do that, Felicity," Oliver responded. The formality she was using with him was cutting him to the core.

They both turned toward the stairwell as they heard someone coming their direction. Sure enough, John Diggle strode toward them, giving Oliver a quizzical look, obviously surprised to see him there. "Oliver, I thought you'd be getting ready for some fundraiser for your mother's campaign?"

At the reminder of Moira Queen Oliver tensed. He started when he felt Felicity's hand give his arm a sympathetic squeeze. Despite how she felt about finding him and Sara this morning, she was still comforting him over his mother's betrayal. How was it no matter what he did or said to put a barrier between him and Felicity, she always knew how to cut through his defenses and give him what he needed, before he even realized he needed it. He gave her a sad smile.

"I was just coming by to give Felicity this," Oliver stated, opening his hand to reveal the diamond earring.

"Oh!" Felicity exclaimed, delighted to see the piece of jewelry. "I thought I had lost that for good. Thank you, Oliver, for bringing it." At the questioning look from both men at her enthusiasm for a seemingly plain item, Felicity informed them that the earrings had belonged to her grandmother, having been passed down multiple generations.

She quickly ran into her room to put it away, then came back to lock her door as Diggle grabbed her bags and started toward the stairs, Oliver still standing in the hallway. She turned her back to him, locking her door securely, then turned to find him immediately in front of her. Her pulse quickened, as it always did when he was close to her. He was staring intently into her eyes.

"If you need anything, anything at all, you know you can call me."

Felicity suddenly found herself getting angry. Time and again she found herself in the same situation with Oliver, pining away for him when he had no clue how she felt, then when she let her emotions show, he would apologize and comfort her, only to continue to keep her at a distance. She knew he wore invisible scars along with his physical ones from his time on the island, but she was tired of watching him do the same thing over and over then expect different results. Feeling frustrated and hurt, she responded, "it's obvous you're very busy these days, so don't worry about me; I'll be fine." She saw the look of pain cross his face at her cutting remark, but she was tired of putting his feelings before her own. She needed to get away and figure out what was best for her, and let Oliver deal with Oliver.

She walked away to join Diggle, leaving Oliver standing at her doorway, refusing to look back and feeling bad. She knew the regret would come later, but she allowed herself to settle into her anger, knowing anger was the safest emotion for her to feel when it came to protecting her heart from Oliver Queen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay. I am hoping to get the next few chapters out in a matter of days versus a week. Thank you for the reviews and keep them coming!**

It had been almost a week since Felicity had been gone. Upon Diggle returning to Starling City a few days earlier alone Oliver had learned that Barry had finally woken up, but the doctors were keeping him in the hospital under observation due to some strange results in his bloodwork. Oliver wasn't pleased that Felicity had decided to stay in Central City to keep Barry company while he was still hospitalized, but he knew he didn't have any right to demand her return.

It was Friday night and he was in the lair going through one of his more gruelling workout routines, which at the moment had him hanging from the top of the salmon ladder upside down, when he heard the door open and the clicking of high heels on the steps. He silently swung himself up into the ceiling rafter just above Felicity's desk as he watched her make her way underneath him, throwing her purse, bag and coat haphazardly onto the surface next to her keyboard. He watched, his chest tightening at the realization of how relieved he was seeing her return, as she then kicked off her heels and took a seat in her computer chair, turning to pull up information on her multiple screens, including tuning in the local news stations.

After a few minutes of assessing what was in front of her, Felicity grabbed the tablet from her bag and connected it to the hard drive of her desktop. Seeming satisfied with whatever was happening now on the screen in front of her, she then leaned back in her chair, rotating her head as if to relieve tension in her neck and shoulders. As she was leaning her head back during one rotation, she happened to open her eyes, catching sight of Oliver hovering above her, shirtless, as usual, and staring at her. The image startled her, causing her to cry out as her chair tipped backwards, her head making a loud "thunk" against the concrete.

As soon as he saw the chair tipping back Oliver was already vaulting himself down to land gracefully next to Felicity, unfortunately not in time to stop her fall and her head connecting with the floor.

"Felicity, are you okay?" Oliver asked quickly, concern etched in his tone.

Eyes closed, she answered with a low groan. Keeping her eyes shut, she finally asked, "is it really necessary to sneak attack your own team members, Oliver?"

"I..." Oliver hesitated, not sure how to explain the fact that he hadn't revealed himself for several minutes upon her entrance. "I was surprised to see you here, I guess," he finally answered, wanting to be truthful with her.

She started to sit up, wincing at the shooting pain in the back of her skull. A sharp intake in breath alerted Oliver to the pain she was experiencing. "Stay sitting; I'm going to grab some ice for you to put on your head." He then went and grabbed an ice pack from the refrigerator, thankful for just one of the many conveniences that Felicity had added while he had been away on the island following the downfall of the Glades several months ago.

He came to sit next to her on the floor, placing the ice pack where Felicity's hand was touching. She put her hand on the ice pack, gently pushing his away, mad at herself for being affected by his touch as their fingers connected briefly. She still hadn't made eye contact with him, and wasn't sure where to start given how things had been left between them. She figured there was no reason to beat around the bush.

"So where's Sara? I thought she would have been here working out with you or..." Felicity let her voice trail off, kicking herself for making it sound like she was referring to what she had caught them doing a week ago.

"I haven't seen Sara all week," Oliver quickly replied, his shoulders almost brushing against Felicity's. "She's been spending some much overdue time with her family," he added.

"That's good," Felicity answered, not sure if it really was or not, but not knowing how else to respond. She started to get up from the floor, Oliver quickly pushing himself up to help her.

"I've got it," she stated, just as she started to tip sideways, the edges of her vision starting to go black.

"Whoa," Oliver said, ignoring her dismissal of him and helping her get her bearings as he snaked an arm around her waist to hold her up. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, thankful for his support given her other option would have been to fall to the floor in a dead faint, probably cracking her skull again.

After she felt the wave of dizziness pass she opened her eyes slowly, waiting to see if she felt light-headed again. She then looked up at Oliver, finally making eye contact with him. The concern on his face was apparent, and it made her heart skip a beat to know that even if he didn't think of her in a romantic way, at least he still cared. "I think I'm okay now, thanks," she assured him.

He leaned down to pick her chair up off the floor, turning it so she could ease herself down into it. When she didn't say anymore, he finally asked her about Barry.

"He's doing amazingly well," she answered, unable to hide the smile on her face.

"So I take it things are good between the two of you?" Oliver asked.

Felicity looked at him oddly. "Fine, I guess. I mean, I don't know when we'll have time to see each other again with how busy we've been here in Starling City and how busy he's going to be given..." She stopped herself, wondering how to explain Barry's news with Oliver.

Oliver immediately noticed her hesitation. "Given what, Felicity?"

"Let's just say that Barry experienced some changes since his accident," she stated, knowing Barry had given her the okay to share what had happened with the Arrow entourage, but enjoying keeping Oliver in suspence.

"Felicity," Oliver growled, giving his low, scary, disapproving tone.

"Okay," she blurted out. "Barry seems to have acquired a new ability since waking up from his coma."

"New ability?" Oliver looked confused.

"We haven't been able to figure out what caused it, which was why I stayed on a couple extra days after he was released from the hospital, and to help cover up his bloodwork results while he was IN the hospital, which doesn't help explain to you what his new ability is..." she rambled.

"FELICITY," Oliver yelled, bringing her back from her tangent.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, pushing her glasses up her nose in that nervous habit that popped up whenever she was excited about something. "So when you're doing target practice with your bow and arrows, how much time does it take for the arrows to reach the target?" she asked, gesturing toward the shooting range at the end of the room.

"What does this.." Oliver started.

"Just answer the question, Oliver," Felicity said, excitement glowing on her face.

"I don't know," Oliver responded, rubbing the back of his neck in frustration. "A second I guess."

"What would you say if I told you I bet Barry could reach the target before your arrow did?"

Oliver looked at her with a frown. "I'd think you hit your head harder than I first thought," he stated, reaching forward to feel the area on the back of her head where she had nailed the floor.

Felicity pushed his hand away in exasperation. "I'm fine, really," she said distractedly. "Oliver, Barry has somehow acquired the ability to move his body extremely fast, like he could run from one end of this room to the other in, like, a flash!" she finished, her expression full of wonder.

A look of fresh terror showed on Oliver's face. "Was he somehow affected with the Mirakuru?" he asked, his fists balling up involuntarily at the thought.

"No," Felicity quickly said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. "I checked his blood, and there is absolutely no trace of the Mirakuru in him. That was my first thought as well." Relief swept over Oliver at her statement.

"In fact," she continued, "I tested him for all sorts of things and found nothing in his blood, but rather his blood cells seem to be behaving diferently than normal. Like it isn't just his body that can move fast, but he can speed up every molecule in his body. Anyway, Barry is doing more research on it from his end, and he said he'd keep me posted on his progress."

"What about his mental state?" Oliver asked, thinking of how the Mirakuru had altered even the most noble of men in his experience.

"Barry is just...Barry," she stated, giving him a shrug. "I mean, I was with him practically 24/7 while I was in Central City, and mentally he seems perfectly normal."

Oliver tilted his head at her mention of "24/7".

"What?" Felicity asked, confused by his look.

Oliver shook his head, obviously letting his own feelings paint a different picture of the situation between Felicity and Barry than what was really there. "Nothing," he finally said. "I'm glad he's out of the coma and I just hope everything is okay with him," he stated, genuinely wanting the young man to be okay, if for nothing else than Felicity's sake.

"We've agreed that we'd Skype at least twice a week, and he's sending me all of the details of his research on a daily basis via a secured server so I can make sure he's not going "Cyrus Gold" on us," Felicity stated.

"Good," was all Oliver could say, clearly shocked by the news.

"I know you're worried about what kind of risk Barry could be to others, Oliver, but that was the whole reason I stayed as long as I did; to make sure Barry was still Barry, and he wasn't any type of risk to others or himself," she stated, as though able to read his mind.

Part of Oliver rejoiced at the fact that it seemed as though nothing more had developed on the relationship front between Felicity and Barry, but part of him also wanted a thorough explanation for what Barry was experiencing. He knew if anyone could get to the bottom of it, it would be Felicity.

"Just promise me that if anything starts to seem strange or off with Barry, you'll tell me, okay?"

Felicity nodded her head, glad to have the distraction of Barry's situation to keep her busy and her mind off of other things...

Oliver turned then, satisfied with the information she had shared, and headed toward the small bathroom. "I've got to get ready for a campaign dinner for my mother's mayoral race that I'm already late for," he called out.

At the mention of Moira Queen, Felicity immediately bristled. With the whole "Sara incident", as she was dubbing it in her head, and Barry's issue, she had almost forgotten the horrific news she had uncovered and ultimately shared with Oliver over Thea's paternity.

"How are things going with your mother?" Felicity asked, watching as her question brought him up short.

"I'm still...processing what you learned," he finally said without turning around. She saw how his shoulders slumped a bit, his image of his mother and her subsequent betrayal obviously weighing down on him. "I haven't talked to her since I confronted her about it, but I did promise to be available for family campaign events, so that's what I'm doing," he said. "Just let me know when Diggle is here to pick me up," he finished, continuing into the bathroom.

Felicity didn't say anything else, but turned back to her computer monitors. A few minutes later Diggle came in, embracing her and welcoming her back home. They were making small talk when Diggle turned fully to the monitor behind Felicity.

"Turn the volume up, Felicity," he said quickly, then calling out for Oliver.

Oliver, dress shirt open as he stepped out of the bathroom, was brought up short at the images on the screen.

They all stood in shock at the news that was being reported.

"Again, WEBG News has just learned that there was an abduction attempt on Starling City socialite Moira Queen as she made her way to her Mayoral campaign dinner tonight, resulting in her driver being injured by the alleged abductors, but the candidate is unharmed and safe, and being assessed for any injuries at a local hospital. Surprisingly, we have been informed by her campaign manager, Mark Francis, that the dinner will go on as scheduled, although the arrival of Ms. Queen may be delayed..."

"Oh my God," Felicity said, looking at Diggle and Oliver.

"Find out what hospital she's at and then let's get over there," Oliver said, his face stone cold. Felicity expected he was already in "Arrow" mode, but was concerned that despite his mother's recent betrayal, he was probably more affected by the news than he was letting on.

"I'm on it," she responded, muting the news story and turning to her keyboard to start pulling up information on her second monitor. A few minutes later Felicity had the information for them and was walking them to the stairs. She had agreed to stay behind if anything else popped up, and to start digging into figuring out who had tried to kidnap Moira Queen.

Just asDiggle and Oliver were ready to go up the stairs Oliver turned to her, letting Diggle make his way up on his own. He pulled Felicity into a brief hug, then set her away from him, a look of shock on her face at his unusual sign of affection. "You have no idea how relieved I am that you're back," he stated. Then before Felicity could react he was gone, leaving her standing, thrilled at his words, but wondering where they had come from. She had a lot to do before they returned from the dinner so decided to get to work and tuck her questions about Oliver's behavior away in her "to be reviewed later" file in her head.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here we go again. Thanks to lateVMlover for the constructive criticism. You are absolutely correct; I obviously overused the startling tactic by including it in consecutive chapters. I actually had forgotten about it since it had been so long since I wrote that part of Chapter 2. Thank you for the heads-up. I appreciate ALL of the reviews, and have thick skin, so if anyone else has some advice, positive or critical, feel free to post. I'm curious what people think about getting the Barry/Flash thing right out there - did I move that along too quickly? I was going to originally keep him in a coma for a bit longer, but wanted to get the Felicity/Barry shipping out of the way. Again, feedback is much appreciated. **

Oliver arrived at the hospital with Diggle in time to see a large group of reporters questioning Moira Queen as she exited the front doors. He got out of the vehicle, making his way toward the crowd but stopping back a ways to take in the scene in front of him. His mother was speaking to the press with a smile on her face, but the way her eyes were darting through the crowd told him despite her confidence, she was clearly on guard for something else to happen. He was torn about whether to step in and escort her to her car, his protective instincts kicking in, or letting her flounder a bit more to let his underlying anger with her simmer a bit. Oliver decided enough was enough, stepping forward to extract her from the throngs and safely into the vehicle in front of them. Moira's campaign manager, Mark Francis, was just about to join them when Oliver shut the door, having Diggle drive him and his mother away.

"Oliver," Moira exclaimed, "that was extremely rude of you to cut off Mark like that. The man is my campaign manager after all," she finished, straightening the wrap around her shoulders that had become skewed upon her entrance into the car.

Oliver stared at her, trying to read into the little tell-tale signs that showed she was truly affected by the attempted abduction, wondering if they were real or a ruse. "Are you all right?" he finally asked.

Moira looked up in surprise, assessing if her son was genuine or not. "I'm surprised you actually care," she responded flippantly, turning away from his penetrating gaze to look out the window.

Oliver let out a frustrated sigh, turning away from her and mimicking her gesture to look out his side of the vehicle. Slightly disappointed that Oliver had not immediately pressed her further for an answer, Moira decided if she was going to try to regain any type of relationship with him, honesty was the best policy. "I'm fine physically," she stated quietly, still looking away from him, "but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still shaken by the whole thing."

Relief swept over Oliver, although he held back on making any physical contact with Moira. He was still unsure how he wanted to manage their relationship on a long-term basis given what he had learned, regardless of what had just happened. A thought occurred to him.

"You didn't set this whole thing up as a low-handed vote-grabbing tactic, did you?" he asked her point-blank. That got her attention. She swung her head around to face him, her mouth wide open in shock at his accusation. He immediately regretted his question.

"How dare you accuse me of setting up something as serious as an abduction to gain votes," she yelled at him. "John, pull this car over immediately. I can find my way to the hotel from here," she yelled up front, reaching toward the door handle. Oliver quickly leaned over, grabbing hold of her arm.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I had no right to ask that," he finally stated, noting the tension slightly easing from her. Digg had pulled the car over, but she made no attempt to get out. Oliver quickly instructed him to keep driving.

Moira still refused to look at him, but didn't ask to have the car pulled over again. "I may have made a mistake when I was younger and more vulnerable, but that does not make me a monster, despite what you think," she said quietly, still looking out the window.

"I didn't call you a monster," Oliver began.

She turned to face him. "Well you might as well have, Oliver. If Miss Smoak had just minded her own business instead of meddling in our family affairs...".

"STOP," Oliver yelled, startling both her and Diggle. His mother jumped back slightly in her seat at the look he was giving her. "This has nothing to do with Felicity! You know as well as I do that this would have gotten out eventually, so don't try to put this on her," he said, clearly shaken by his mother's attack on his partner in crime.

"Then what is she doing looking into transactions that are part of a fund that is completely off the grid of Queen Consolidated?" she demanded angrily.

Oliver tried to keep his cool. "She had been asked to watch that fund by your husband at the time, Mother. From what I heard she got pulled into it because of Walter, and no other reason."

Moira moved forward to get right up into Oliver's face. "Are you going to tell me that you believe there was no ulterior motive for her to watch that fund months after Walter and I had divorced? Do you really believe she is an innocent in all of this? Because from my viewpoint she will do anything and everything to get closer to you. Are you so clueless that you don't see that the girl is in love with you, Oliver?"

Oliver felt like he had been slapped. In love with him? He knew she cared about him, but they were partners; he relied on her to complete their team with her intelligence and computer savvy. She couldn't be in love with him.

"You really don't know, do you," Moira said quietly, taking in the stunned look on his face.

"She's not...," he started. He looked in the rearview mirror to see Diggle glancing at him, a knowing look in his eyes. "No," he said. "She's my friend," he defended loudly, glancing between his mother and Digg. John had looked away, but Moira looked at him with sympathy.

"Oliver, honey, you need to stop leading the poor girl on. Everyone else can see it; even the gossip at Queen Consolidated has gotten out of control."

Oliver sat stunned; he heard what his mother was saying, but the thought of not having Felicity with him, at his side helping him do the work that he did, both during the day and outside of the office, terrified him. He couldn't imagine having accomplished any of the things they had done without her being a part of it. It had pained him enough when Felicity had been in Central City while Barry had been in a coma, he couldn't imagine her permanently being out of the picture. He shook his head.

"No."

"Oliver..." his mother started.

"No," he declared emphatically, staring his mother straight in the eye. "I am not discussing Felicity with you or anyone else, and if I hear you try to pin any of the blame on her again, you can forget about me showing my support for you during this campaign."

Moira glared at him, but knew better than to push him. She felt emotionally drained from the events of the day, particularly regretting bringing up Felicity's name. She knew Oliver was right; it was just a matter of time before someone had put the pieces of the puzzle together based on her courtroom confession about Malcolm Merlyn. She hated the secrets that had already torn apart her family, and wondered how long some others could stay hidden. She decided it was time to stop keeping things from Oliver.

"Oliver, there's something I need to tell you about Malcolm Merlyn," she said quietly, her heart rate accelerating out of fear at the thought of the mad man.

Her son turned to her, obvious discomfort at the topic.

Moira gazed nervously toward the front of the vehicle at Diggle.

"I assure you, there is no need to worry about Diggle overhearing us. He's become quite astute at keeping secrets," he added, giving a knowing glance to John in the rearview mirror. Moira caught the knowing look between the two men, comforted at the thought that Oliver had someone near him who could be trusted. She told him as much, grouping in both Diggle AND Felicity in her statement. Oliver saw it as a step in the right direction that his mother would hopefully not continue her personal attacks on Felicity.

"I know I should have said something eariler," she started. They were interrupted by Oliver's phone ringing in his suit coat. He held up a finger to his mother to hold her thought, then answered the call seeing it was Felicity. He turned toward the window.

"Do you have something?" he asked.

"Is your mom okay?" Felicity asked.

Oliver glanced at Moira, thinking that Felicity was being all together too generous with her concern given what the woman thought of her. "She's fine. Diggle and I are escorting her to the hotel. She's going forward with the campaign dinner."

"You two may want to cut your dinner short given what I just found," Felicity stated, reviewing the information on her computer monitor a fourth time, not sure she was believing what was there.

Oliver tensed at her words, then leaned forward in his seat. "Just tell me what you found," he stated almost harshly, the hair standing up on the back of his neck at the unease in her voice. He hoped whatever she had found she was overreacting to.

"One of the blood samples they pulled from the kidnapping scene was processed by the SCPD CSI unit. It had high concentrations of Mirakuru in it," she finished, wishing she could be standing next to him for this news. She knew he wouldn't be pleased about it.

"What?!" he stated. Diggle pulled them up to the back entrance of the hotel. Moira looked at Oliver with concern as she took in his expression. Clearly whatever he was hearing on the phone was not good news. Collecting himself, Oliver held his hand over the phone for a moment as hotel security opened the car door to escort them to the campaign event.

"Mom, you go ahead. I've got to take this call," he added, trying to give her a reassuring smile that never reached his eyes.

"Is everything all right, Oliver?" she asked, frowning at him.

"It's fine, really," he lied. "I promise I'll be right behind you," he added, motioning for the security guard to take her in directly. After the car door had closed Oliver put the phone on speaker as Diggle turned around, aware that something was going on. "It's just me and Diggle now, Felicity. What are the details," he asked.

She went over the results with them, noting that it couldn't have been from Roy, who may have driven in the limo that Moira had been in at an earlier time, since the blood type of the sample did not match Roy's. She also stated that she had removed any trace of the rare compound from the test results before they had been accessed by anyone else in the CSI unit. "There's still someone out there with this stuff in their system, Oliver," she finished.

"Why don't I head back to the lair to help Felicity get more information, then be back here in an hour to pick you up. There's nothing we can do at this point until we know more," Diggle suggested to Oliver.

Oliver agreed, then hung up with Felicity. He exited the car and entered the hotel, finding his mother right away to let her know he was there. Moira quickly excused herself from the group she had been with, claiming to need to talk to her son regarding some official Queen Consolidated business. They stepped out of the dining area into a deserted hallway.

"Everything is fine, really," Oliver stated, assuming his mother wanted to ask more about the call that had delayed him.

"I don't care about the call," she stated. Oliver looked at her more closely, realizing that the calm demeanor she had portrayed just moments ago was not real. He looked at her, giving her his full attention. She let out a deep sigh, glancing around to ensure they were still alone. "I have something to tell you that I want you to keep between the two of us, do you understand?" He nodded. "I don't know where to start," she trailed off, closing her eyes to try to maintain her composure.

"Mother," Oliver growled, "just spit it out."

She opened her eyes, hoping he could see the sincerity in what she was about to tell him. "Malcolm Merlyn is alive, Oliver. He came to me just after my trial. He was the one who arranged the not guilty verdict."

"What?! Does he know about Thea?" Oliver asked, a ball forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Yes," Moira responded, her shoulders sagging at the thought of Malcolm corrupting her sweet Thea.

"When did you see him last?"

"I saw him after the trial, and one other time when he showed up at the mansion," she responded, feeling sick at the thought of him being in her home. "Oliver, what are we going to do? You have to help protect your sister!"

He stood there for a moment, then stepped away from his mother to pull out his phone. He hit the speed dial button for Felicity.

"We don't have anything new yet..." she started when she picked up.

"Stop whatever you're doing," he bit out, trying to remain calm.

"What's going on, Oliver. Are you okay?" Felicity asked, the tension in his voice evident. If he wanted her to stop digging into the Mirakuru, she knew it had to be something major.

"Malcolm Merlyn; he's alive. We need to find him. I'm on my way," he finsihed, ending the call abruptly.

Diggle noticed Felicity's face go white as she slowly brought the phone away from her ear. "Felicity, what's going on?"

"Oliver's on his way back. I think he just said..." She hesitated, hoping that what she heard was wrong.

"I think he just said Malcolm Merlyn is alive."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for the inspiring reviews. Keep them coming. **

**So excited the season has started up again in the US. It will be a bit tough to keep my story line straight with what is happening on the show, but don't be surprised if I snag some good lines and/or scenes from the Arrow writers! Enjoy.**

Oliver strode into the lair. "Where are we at, Felicity?" he called out as he took off his coat and loosened his tie. Felicity wheeled around in her chair, still taken aback at how perfect Oliver looked, even in times of crisis. She shook her head; now was not the time to get distracted by Oliver Queen!

"Nothing yet, but I've set up a facial recognition program that's running in hopes that it finds Malcolm on the various security camera feeds we're tapped into," she replied, turning back to her monitors as Oliver came up behind her.

"Good," he replied, giving her shoulder a light squeeze in appreciation. Diggle had just hung up his phone with one of his contacts in the FBI on the robbery that had occurred at the Merlyn estate. The Feds were still in the dark regarding what had been taken, but they had not had any luck on their end with the robbery or who was involved. Digg shared as much with Oliver and Felicity, speculating that perhaps Merlyn had been behind the whole thing. It was something they had not considered before given they all thought Malcolm was dead, but it opened up all sorts of possibilities since he was alive.

"So did your mother say what Malcolm wanted from her?" Felicity asked, knowing that it probably had something to do with Thea, but wondering if there was some other motive behind him making himself known only to Moira and no one else.

"It sounds like it's related to Thea, but I didn't get into the details of what all was said," he answered, watching as her program was scanning through faces on the screen. Just then his phone rang.

"Hey Thea," he answered, "what's up?" Felicity waited, sure his sister was surprised at his early departure. She had already been asking if things were okay between him and their mother, noticing the tension between the two. The last thing Oliver wanted was for Thea to find out that Malcolm Merlyn was her father. "Honestly, Thea, there was just a QC issue that needed to be handled, and I didn't want Mom to have to leave so I assured her I'd handle it," he stated, reassuring his sister that there was nothing suspicious regarding him leaving the campaign dinner. "Yeah, I'll be home when it's all resolved. It may be late, so don't wait up." After a brief pause he said goodbye and ended the call.

Oliver stared briefly at the phone, hating himself for lying to his sister, but knowing he was doing the right thing.

Felicity placed her hand on his forearm, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked. She knew how hard it had been to not say anything to Oliver when she had first discovered Moira's secret; she couldn't imagine how hard it was on him keeping this from Thea. His secret of being the Arrow was something he needed to keep from them for their own safety, but this was something entirely different.

He covered her hand with his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, thanks for asking."

"You know I once had a good friend offer to me that if I needed to share about my day they would listen; I can be a good listener too," Felicity stated, giving Oliver a small smile.

He chuckled at her reference to his own words. "Smart friend," he said playfully.

"Well, not as smart as me, but he has his strengths," Felicity responded, nudging him with her shoulder. Before their conversation could continue the computer let out a low beeping. They both turned their attention to see what had come up. Diggle, who had been on his phone again, stepped over to join them.

"Looks like we've got a hit," Felicity noted, pulling up the image to zoom in on the potential match. The image showed none other than Malcolm Merlyn meeting with another man at the Starling City Shipping Yards just two days before. The picture was grainy but the identity of who it was left no one guessing; it was clearly Merlyn. "Who is he talking to?" Felicity questioned, unable to see the face of whomever Malcolm was speaking with. "Let's see if we can see who our new friend is," she said under her breath, going through the images of the footage just before and after the program had flagged Malcolm.

Oliver and Diggle watched over her shoulder as she worked her magic. When she found a clear image of the mystery man she enhanced it and zoomed in so they could all get a better look.

"No," Oliver breathed out, his heart rate jumping at the man before him.

"You know who this is?" Digg asked, noting Oliver's expression. When he didn't respond Digg looked at the image again, trying to recall if they had ever run into him before. The face wasn't ringing any bells for him. When he looked back at Oliver he noted that almost all of the blood had drained from his face. "Oliver, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Felicity, having run the new image through the facial recognition program in reverse to find the identity of the unknown man, had just pulled up the results on her screen. "That's because this guy apparently died and then came back to life about a year ago, six months after Oliver reappeared," she said.

"Slade Wilson," Oliver bit out, relieved his voice didn't give away the turmoil he was experiencing on the inside.

"That's right," Felicity said, turning in surprise at Oliver correctly identifying the man. "Wait, is this THE Slade Wilson, like the Mirakuru Slade Wilson?"

Oliver gave a quick nod of acknowledgement at her guess. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Hey," he said to the voice in the other end, "we have a serious problem. No, it's not the League of Assassins, but you're probably going to wish it was. It's worse, much worse. Slade Wilson. Sara, are you still there? Okay, we'll be here."

Felicity and Diggle sat dumbstruck, not sure what this meant. It obviously explained where the Mirakuru was coming from if Slade Wilson was here, but they were confused as to the connection between Malcolm and Slade. Diggle said as much to Oliver.

"I have no idea how or why the two of them are working together, but it can't be good," Oliver responded, trying to remain calm.

"I'll start seeing what I can dig up," Felicity said quietly, trying to not be hurt that Oliver's first reaction to finding out Slade was alive was to call Sara. Of course it made sense he would let her know since she had been on the island with them at the time of Slade being infected with the Mirakuru and the aftermath of it. Still, she wished he felt like he could rely on her when he needed support. She turned back to her keyboard and got back to work, focusing on the task at hand.

A short time later Sara entered, coming in and immediately embracing Oliver. "I'm so sorry this is happening, Ollie," she stated quietly, stepping back to look him in the eyes.

He gave her a brief smile in appreciation of her words, then went into detail as to what they found and what Felicity was working on. "Impressive stuff, Felicity," Sara stated, smiling at the other woman.

"You can see why she's such a critical part of the team," Oliver interjected, catching Felicity completely off guard with the compliment.

She blushed, thanking him.

"Well, it's true," he stated, giving her shoulder a squeeze. He and Sara then walked away as he shared with her what he had found out about Malcolm Merlyn regarding Thea and his reaching out to Moira. Felicity could see the look of sympathy on Sara's face, and wondered what she thought of Felicity bringing the information to Oliver in the first place. Upon seeing Sara hug him again, she turned back to her work, happy that Oliver had someone he could rely on for support, just wishing, yet again, he felt he could rely on her. At least if she couldn't help him emotionally, at least she could help him with her technical expertise.

The group kept plugging away for a few more hours, catching more glimpses of Merlyn and Wilson on the video feeds they were monitoring, finally thinking they may have a potential location where each man could be found. Diggle and Sara convinced Oliver that the last thing they should do was storm the castle and try to take out the two men, especially as they didn't know where the earthquake device was, and they wanted to know what the end game was for the working relationship between Malcolm and Slade. Instead Felicity started working on a list of known acquaintances that each man had been meeting with as far back as their video feeds would take them. Oliver hoped they could slowly start getting closer and closer to the men through others, at least until they learned more about why they were seemingly working together.

As Felicity worked at the monitors, Sara, Diggle and Oliver all got in a good workout practicing some hand-to-hand combat with various weapons. Felicity was amazed at how skilled Sara was, holding her own with the men. Feelings of inadequacy flooded her, realizing that out of the four of them, she was definitely the oddball. After about 30 more minutes of listening to the playful banter between the three, and Diggle constantly complimenting Sara on her abilities, Felicity finally had enough.

"Is it possible that you guys could keep things down over there? I'm trying to get some decent information gathered here, but I need to be able to concentrate on what I'm doing without all that racket," she blurted. At the look of shock on their faces at her outburst, she blushed. "Please keep it down," she added quietly, feeling embarrassed at letting her emotions get the better of her. She turned back to her workstation.

She heard someone come up behind her, surprised when it ended up being Sara. "Hey, sorry for getting carried away," Sara started, using a towel to wipe the sweat from her face and neck. "It's been a while since I've been able to let loose like that, and given my family drama, it was a nice outlet," she finished, taking the seat next to Felicity.

Felicity sighed, kicking herself for overreacting, especially since Sara had been nothing but nice to her every time she had been there. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nah," Sara responded, "but thanks for the offer. I may have to take you up on that one of these days when I don't have two punching bags to use," she responded, gesturing towards Oliver and Diggle. Felicity couldn't help smiling in response, despite the obvious closeness between Oliver and Sara. She turned away as Sara started to leave but turned back around at the sound of Sara's voice again.

"I also wanted to apologize for what happened last week, when you came in here and found me and Oliver...". Felicity blushed at the mention of finding the two of them after a night of sex, but just nodded in acknowledgement, too embarrassed to say anything. "I can assure you it won't happen again. Neither one of us is looking for any kind of commitment; it was just a heat of the moment thing, more out of familiarity than anything else."

"You don't have to explain anything to me," Felicity stated, cutting Sara off from saying more.

"Well, I should probably make sure I explain it to Oliver, not that I expect he'll put up any argument. I get the impression he's trying to get past the island and everyone that was a part of it for his own sanity, which is probably a good idea. I know it broke him inside, but I see him healing, especially with everything you guys are doing here," she said, motioning around the lair. "I don't want to get in the way of that," Sara finished.

Touched by Sara's candor, Felicity couldn't help but ask the young woman about her own healing. "What about you? You not only survived the island, but got out of the League of Assassins alive. That's got to leave some scars."

"I like you, Felicity, for speaking your mind, but we'll leave that conversation for another day," Sara responded without answering her question. She turned and headed for the door, calling out a good-bye to the two men.

Diggle, knowing there wasn't much more they could do that night also took his exit, calling out to Felicity and Oliver as he left. The lair became very quiet as Oliver went over to the refrigerator to grab some water. He approached Felicity, placing an extra bottle next to her keyboard.

"Thirsty?"

Felicity smiled up at him, still mulling over Sara's words, feeling slightly guilty about snapping at the trio. "Thanks."

Oliver noticed her avoiding making eye contact with him. "Everything okay?" he asked gently, taking a drink of his water.

"Yeah," Felicity stated, finally looking at him. "I'm sorry for snapping. I guess I was feeling a little left out and my emotions got the better of me," she confessed.

Oliver took a step closer to her, turning her chair so he could look her straight in the face. "Hey," he said quietly, ensuring he had her full attention. "There would be no team without you. We're partners, remember?" he finished, bringing up his words from another night when they had been alone in the lair. He gazed into her eyes, thinking back to that night and the wave of jealousy that had swept over him as she had lamented about Barry Allen and he had been apologizing for snapping at her. He gently brushed her cheek with his thumb, taking a glance at her mouth, recalling how on that same night he had almost leaned forward and kissed her. He felt the same tug now, like there was a gravitational pull between them.

Felicity was lost in his eyes, her mouth going dry at his closeness.

Struck by the wave of emotion that came over him Oliver quickly straightened, terrified of what he had almost just done. Felicity sat there, dumbstruck, still staring at him with that trusting look on her face. He shook his head, kicking himself mentally for even entertaining the idea of kissing her. She was good, and innocent, and pure; he was broken, damaged goods, someone who had a horrific past that he seemed to never be able to escape. He refused to bring her down with him.

"Why don't you pack your things up and I'll walk you to your car," he stated, unable now to make eye contact with her, afraid of what his eyes would reveal of his emotions.

"Okay," she said quietly, doing as he said, shutting off her monitors while the programs she had set up continued to run and tally information for them that they could review with fresh eyes in the morning.

She noticed the change in him as he continued to avoid eye contact with her, not saying anything as he led her out to the parking lot behind Verdant. He walked her to her car, taking her keys and opening the door for her. Just as she was about to get into the driver's seat she turned around to look at him. The raw emotion she saw on his face caught her off guard. She took a stop closer to him, putting her hand on his cheek in a comforting gesture.

"Oliver," she breathed out, trying to convey all the comfort and caring possible to ease whatever was causing the anguish that was visible in his eyes.

Caught off guard at the touch of her hand, Oliver reacted without thinking, pulling Felicity to him and covering her mouth with his. There was nothing soft or gentle about this kiss; it was all raw emotion and passion.

Felicity took a moment to realize what was happening, but quickly snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer to her, opening her mouth to allow him entrance as their tongues met and the kiss became even more heated.

Suddenly there was a loud crash as one of the workers at Verdant had just emptied a waste basket of beer bottles into the large recycling container, the top lid banging down as the worker went back into the building, not having noticed the two of them. They had pulled apart at the noise, both panting to catch their breath. Before Felicity could say anything Oliver leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, this one much more tempered.

"We better go," he said, handing her down into her car and shutting the door. He quickly retreated over to his motorcycle, putting on his helmet and driving away.

Felicity sat there, in shock, wondering if she had just imagined what had happened. She reached up and touched her lips, feeling the heat from the kiss, realizing that it really did happen, not knowing what to think about it. She slowly made her way home, pretty sure she had run a couple red lights in her stupor. It wasn't until she was in bed, lights out, that the smile spread across her face. She fell asleep like that, going over the moment in her head over and over again.

Oliver Queen had kissed her...


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the reviews. I appreciate you taking the time to leave them. I hope you continue to enjoy. **

It had been two days since the kiss in the parking lot of Verdant. Oliver had not been trying to avoid Felicity on purpose, but it had been convenient that he had to attend some campaign events for his mother over the next couple of days, so had not been to the lair or in the office. They had been in touch via text messages, but there had been no mention of what had occurred between them.

He knew Felicity would be below Verdant this evening. He found it odd to be nervous about seeing her, but as he was still not sure what the kiss meant to him, his reaction made sense. This didn't change anything in his head; he wasn't going to get involved with anyone he truly cared about for fear that they could be hurt to get to him. He just hoped that Felicity would understand. Oliver walked into the lair, ready to face her, but was brought up short at the sight in front of him.

Sara was in the process of showing Felicity some moves with the staff. Both women were wearing workout clothes and were covered in sweat. Apparently they had been there for a while.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked in what could only be perceived as an accusatory tone, all nervousness about seeing Felicity forgotten at the underlying anger he was feeling.

Sara smiled at him, either not picking up on his tone, or choosing to ignore it. "Hey, Ollie. Felicity asked me if I could show her some moves with the staff other than using it to clobber someone over the head," she stated, laughing lightly as she gave Felicity a reassuring glance. It was clear that Felicity had picked up on Oliver's tone, and was acting like a school kid caught cheating. Sara made a mental note to talk with Felicity later to remind her that Oliver wasn't always right.

At Oliver's puzzling look, Felicity stepped in. "I told her about when that vigilante group stormed the QC offices and started shooting everything up, and how I had clubbed the guy over the head when he was going to shoot you." Oliver frowned at the memory. It had unnerved him at the time how Felicity had put herself directly in harm's way trying to protect him. "I had mentioned that it was more of a reaction than anything, but it would have been nice to know some more strategies since we always seem to find ourselves facing off with crazies like that."

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" Oliver asked Sara, pulling her away from Felicity by the arm to be out of earshot.

Felicity felt her stomach sink. Not only was this the first time they had seen each other since he had kissed her in the parking lot just days ago, but his action in person was mirroring the text messages they had been exchanging, meaning he was acting as if nothing had happened between them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"Oliver bit out at Sara.

Sara yanked her arm from him. "I'm trying to help a friend," she ground out, returning his glare full force. "What does it hurt to show Felicity some defensive strategies with the staff or some other weapons?"

Oliver ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. "Felicity doesn't need to know any fighting techniques."

"Why not?" Sara asked, clearly frustrated at Oliver's lack of logic in his thinking.

"Felicity puts herself in the line of fire enough already without being encouraged that she can take on more bad guys," he stated loudly, instantly regretting making the statement as he watched Felicity march over to them. "I'm sorry," he said to Felicity as she stopped in front of them, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Sorry I heard you or sorry you said it?" Felicity asked. Sara looked at Oliver as well, curious as to what his reaction would be.

He knew he should back down, that he was too emotionally charged to be rational, but he couldn't help himself. "You know what, I'm not sorry. I don't want you training with Sara, or Diggle, or even me for that matter. I want you doing what you're supposed to be doing, and that's sitting in that chair and typing on your keyboard pulling up whatever information I need you to be gathering," he yelled as he pointed at her workstation. He wanted to yell that he wanted to move her workstation to a bank vault to keep her entirely out of danger, but he knew that would be taking things too far.

"Maybe I want to be doing more than just sitting at a computer," she yelled back. "Maybe if I had been more knowledgeable about how to defend myself or how to overtake an assailant you wouldn't have had to kill the Count because of me; I could have avoided him kidnapping me and luring you to the Queen Consolidated offices, and he would still be alive so we would know who was behind how Roy was infected!"

"The whole Count debacle wouldn't have even happened if you had stayed put like you were supposed to," Oliver screamed, taking a step toward Felicity.

Felicity closed the gap, coming nose to nose with him, or more nose to chest given his height advantage. "If I hadn't tracked down the Count we never would have gotten the formula of the flu shot he used to infect half the city!" she yelled back at him.

"You shouldn't have gone off on your own! You should have called me, and if Diggle had been in his right mind instead of a drug-induced fever he would have said the same thing!"

"It was my choice, Oliver, and I knew the risk I was taking by going there, the same way I assess the risk in any of the situations where I've been bait to help get the information we need," she practically screamed. "You say my job is to gather information? Well that's exactly what I was doing, Oliver, and we all know there's a risk to that. Besides, if you were going to have such deep regret about killing the Count you should have just let him inject me with his drugs," she finished.

"You could have died! Do you have any idea what that would do to me?"

"God forbid you be inconvenienced to have to find another IT resource to do your information gathering," Felicity bit out sharply at him.

"I don't care about that," he shouted, grabbing her by the arms so there was no distance between the two of them. "If I lost you..." he started, his voice now lower, the anguish on his face at the thought of anything happenning to Felicity clearly evident. "Felicity, if anything ever happened to you, that is something that I would never be able to recover from, no matter how long I lived," he finished, his voice starting to tremble with the full force of emotion he felt.

Sara backed away, suddenly feeling as though the two of them needed some privacy. She had meant it when she had told Oliver that he had changed since the last time she had seen him, and it was clear to her now the source for that change. It was time the two of them got everything out in the open, and they didn't need any help doing it from what she was seeing.

Felicity, not even realizing that Sara was departing, was trying to process Oliver's words. "Why? Why does it matter so much Oliver? You've got your family, and Laurel, and Sara..." she gestured at open space next to her. She looked around, finally realizing that it was just her and Oliver. Turning back to him, she added in a low voice,"I'm just the IT girl."

Oliver let go of her arms and brought his hands up to her face, never losing eye contact with her. "Don't you get it, Felicity? You're so much more than just the IT girl. I may have gotten off of that island, but I was convinced it had crushed every last bit of humanity that I had inside of me, and I didn't have much to begin with. I was just a shell when I came back, determined to exact revenge on the names on that list, damn the consequences. My future was a black hole of despair. There were so many times when I wondered if everyone around me would have been better off if I had died on that island...".

"No," Felicity interrupted, placing her hands on his chest, above his heart, "you're wrong."

Oliver smiled at her declaration. "There it is," he continued, "that unfailing belief you have in me that makes me believe I can be so much more than I already am. That is what has drawn me out of the darkness and allowed myself to think that there might be a life for me beyond the hood."

Felicity felt her heart constrict at his words. She had seen him caught in that darkness, and had hoped and prayed time and time again that he somehow found his way out of it. She had no idea she had become such a key part of that for him.

"Having you by my side is my greatest strength," Oliver continued, "but because of that you're also my greatest weakness. If we were together as more than being part of this team, you become a target for every low life out there. Especially now that Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson are back in the picture. I'm not afraid of what they could do to me; I'm terrified that they'll come after you. And if I wasn't so selfish I'd point you toward that door and tell you never to come back again."

Her heart dropped at his statement, the fear of being rejected by Oliver and never being able to see him again causing panic to rise in her. Oliver saw it on her face. "I'm not going to send you away, Felicity," he stated, not wanting to see her suffering. "But I can't offer you anything more right now, no matter how much I want it," he finished, knowing he had to hold firm on his stance, for her sake as well as his own.

Felicity reached up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, pulling back with a smile. "Thank you," she said.

"For what?" Oliver asked, taken aback by the kiss and her words.

"For being honest with me; for not keeping me in the dark to try to protect me. If I know that I could be used against you, that means I'll be all the more diligent about keeping safe so I can't be used that way," she stated. "But will you please promise me one thing?"

"What?" he asked, his expression guarded.

"Please don't shut us out; me, or Diggle, or even Sara and Roy. We can do so much more as a team when we work together, and that means stopping this whole selective truth philosophy that you have going, " she said calmly, hoping he didn't take her words as an attack or criticism.

"All right," he responded.

"What?"

"I said 'all right'. You don't have to act so surprised that I'm agreeing with you," he stated, a mischevious smile creeping across his face.

"Oliver Queen, team player. Who would have seen that one coming," Felicity stated, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a warm embrace.

They stood there like that for a while, a huge weight lifted from Oliver's shoulders, and the defensive walls around Felicity's heart gone. Suddenly the future seemed much more hopeful from Oliver's perspective, regardless of the reappearance of two of the most dangerous men on the planet. He knew Felicity was right, that if they faced them as a team, they would succeed. Maybe then the fear of losing her would lessen, and he could allow himself to start a real relationship with her. He pulled back, a feeling of contentment washing over him.

"Ready to go see if we've located our bad guys yet?" he asked, tilting his head toward the computer monitors.

Felicity smiled, turning to her workstation, pulling up the programs she had running. Just then Diggle came in, tossing his jacket on the chair next to her.

"Did I miss something?" he asked, noting the lack of tension in the air.

"We just had a nice chat and aired out some things," Felicity stated, never taking her eyes off the monitor for fear of letting Diggle see the blush on her face.

Looking at Oliver, Diggle noted his nod of agreement. Whatever had happened, Diggle had a feeling it meant only good things for all of them.

"All righty then; let's see what you've got!"

**I'm debating it this should be the conclusion of my story, if I should post an epilogue for a glimpse into what I hope the future holds for Olicity, or if I should continue the storyline until there is a resolution to the Malcolm Merlyn/Slade Wilson drama. Please let me know your thoughts, and thanks for reading.**


End file.
